By JEN BAYLON
The Negros Occidental provincial government is reaffirming its commitment to affordable rice for its residents, even as it navigates the complexities of the national government’s P20 per kilo rice program and the strictures of the election ban.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II assured the Negrenses that the province will continue its long-running rice subsidy initiative while ensuring full compliance with all legal and electoral requirements.
“We have to comply; otherwise, we’ll be guilty of election offenses,” Diaz said.
“Regardless of what happens with the ban now, we will still continue it. We’ll try [the P20 per kilo scheme] as an adjustment. The irrigators’ associations are willing if they can add to it, aside from selling it before at P25,” he added.
Earlier, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the 10-day Comelec ban on the distribution of all forms of financial assistance includes the sale of rice at P20 a kilo by local government units (LGUs).
Diaz also raised critical questions about accountability in the implementation of the scheme proposed by the Department of Agriculture.
“The 5,800 sacks of rice from the NFA [National Food Authority] are about more or less P7 million, so we’re ready for that amount, but it depends on the availability from the NFA. We can’t say we’ll get 30,000 sacks of rice because they don’t have that much. You have to get this under the program from the NFA, and then the Food Terminal Inc. will give you a subsidy of P6.50,” he said.
Diaz questioned who would be authorized to sell the 5,800 sacks of rice.
“Are they authorized by law? Do they have the business permit to engage in such activities? Who will receive the P20 income? How will this be treated in terms of our books of accounts? Those are the things I’ve raised to them,” he said.
“But for us, we don’t have those questions because our irrigators’ associations are not part of the government. So the P25 they’re selling, they’re already at a loss, but it’s their money, so we don’t have other questions of accounting or questions of law on how to implement it,” he pointed out.
The provincial administrator concluded with a firm commitment to transparency and compliance.
“We’ll still do our best to support the program of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. through the Department of Agriculture, with compliance with all our requirements, and with the Commission on Audit. We cannot just act and think along the way if what we’re doing is correct or not,” he said.
Diaz also highlighted the challenges of implementing the P20 per kilo rice program, especially during the election period.
“They’ve laid out some mechanics, but they’re leaving everything up to LGUs,” Diaz said.
However, he said it’s still not clear how LGUs could implement the program without incurring liabilities.
He said the provincial government has been selling rice at P25 per kilo, with a five-kilo limit per purchase, for more than two years.
“We’ve been going from one LGU to another, wherever our irrigators’ associations are requested, and we also sell to our vulnerable sectors — persons with disabilities, senior citizens and single parents. We have been sustaining this, and we will keep doing it,” Diaz stated.
“For us, we’ve been doing it for a long time, and we will continue doing it again to support the program,” he added.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has been fully briefed on these developments and remains supportive of the initiative, ensuring that the province’s vulnerable sectors continue to receive the benefits of the program./JB, WDJ